


Downfall: Stuck

by Tenukii



Series: Downfall [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Medieval, M/M, Mutual Pining, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-29 20:24:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21416155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenukii/pseuds/Tenukii
Summary: Knight Poe falls in a hole.  Prince Ben has to get him out.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Downfall [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1118211
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Downfall: Stuck

**Author's Note:**

> This is a nearly three-year-old story I found hiding on my hard drive and decided to post. It’s a short little ficlet prequel to “Downfall” I wrote in response to an anon request on Tumblr (allewyn.tumblr.com) for the prompt “help me I’m stuck.” The game they’re playing in this fic is “colf,” which according to the interwebs is the medieval ancestor of golf. Kylo Ren playing golf = hilarity. He’d get SO MAD.

“Help me. I’m stuck.”

The words the knight mumbled were barely audible. Ben Solo, prince of the realm, looked down on the shorter man with what he hoped was an air of disdain.

“Speak up, Sir Dameron,” he scoffed. “I can’t hear you.”

Poe Dameron’s face flushed, turning the tan skin across his cheeks to a beautiful dusky rose.

“I _said_, I’m stuck,” he grumbled. Ben knew that, of course. It was obvious considering that Poe was sunk to the waist in an abandoned, sunken-in animal den, which had been previously hidden with a cover of brush.

“So you are,” observed Ben, “and it’s your own fault, plunging in after your ball like that. You’re so reckless, you’re going to get yourself killed someday.” He didn’t like to think about that, Poe being killed, but he was in the mood to say something hurtful. First his mother had insisted on him and his father playing this ridiculous game with her, _then_ she had to choose _Poe_ to be the fourth player, and now they had been out for _hours_, and when Poe disappeared after his lost ball and didn’t return, the queen had made _Ben_ go look for him.

And here Poe was, stuck in a hole he couldn’t scrabble out of because he was so short and the sides were lined with slippery leaves. Poe with his hair all tousled, twigs stuck in the curls, and his face flushed and his beautiful dark eyes glaring up at the prince through their thick lashes.

“You can lecture me later, Prince Solo,” Poe growled, “after you help me get out of here.”

Ben laughed. He _could_ laugh now that he had found Poe and wasn’t so worried about the man he pretended to hate.

“You’re actually asking for _my_ help! This is perfect. I ought to just leave you there,” Ben said.

“You wouldn’t!” Poe protested.

“Watch me,” taunted Ben. Of course, he had no intention of actually leaving Poe in his predicament, and he felt guilty for even playing at it when he saw the knight’s deep brown eyes widen in real fear.

“Ben—I mean Prince Solo, please! It’s getting dark!” Poe stammered. “And there are wolves out here—and, and bears! At least, there _might_ be bears. Threepio claims he saw a bear once, although Artoo says it was just someone’s cow that had gotten loose, and then he started making fun of Threepio for being afraid of a cow.” Poe tended to ramble when he got nervous, and Ben decided to cut him off before things got out of hand.

“All right, all right,” the prince interrupted. “I’ll help you, but only because you said ‘please.’” Poe’s anxious expression softened into one of gratitude, which only made Ben feel guiltier. The prince glowered and started looking around for something Poe could grab on to.

“There’s got to be a limb or something I can use to pull you out,” he muttered, but Poe shook his head.

“Just reach down and pull me out!” he argued. “You’re always showing off how strong you are, and mocking me for how small I am, so it shouldn’t be any trouble for you.”

“Fine,” snapped Ben. He didn’t want to do it that way because he didn’t want to touch Poe, but he couldn’t see any other way of getting Poe out. The prince crouched at the edge of the collapsed den and reached both of his long arms down toward the knight. “Grab my lower arms, and I’ll grab yours and try to pull you out.”

Poe nodded, and a second later, his small hands were gripping Ben’s arms, with only the prince’s light linen shirt separating his skin from Poe’s touch. Ben swallowed hard and took similar hold of Poe’s arms. The knight’s shirt was far coarser than the prince’s, but Poe’s arms were equally firm and muscular, though smaller, in Ben’s grip.

“I’ll count to three. Just don’t pull me down with you!” Ben muttered. Poe rolled his eyes, and Ben counted through clenched teeth, “One, two. . . three!” He hauled up and back, and Poe scrambled his feet in the brush for a toehold. Somehow, he caught one and pushed off of it, hard. The unexpected boost combined with Ben’s strong pull caused Poe to fairly fly out of the hole, and Ben to tumble over backwards. He landed on his back, and Poe landed on top of him, nearly knocking the wind out of the larger man.

“Dammit!” Ben gasped—or tried to gasp, as the oath came out as little more than a whisper. He looked up, and Poe looked down. Their noses were nearly touching, Poe’s beautiful eyes were mere inches away from Ben’s, and his lips. . . .

“You’re stronger than I thought,” Poe murmured. Ben’s eyes stayed fixed on his pretty, perfectly formed lips that were the color of peaches in summer.

“Are. . . are you all right?” the prince finally mumbled. “You’re not hurt?”

“I’m fine. My ankle hurt when I landed on it down there, but I don’t think that. . . that it’s broken. . . .” Poe’s voice trailed off, and when Ben looked back up at his eyes, they seemed to be fixed on the prince’s mouth too. Then they darted back to meet Ben’s gaze. Poe blinked, hard, then scrambled off of the larger man as if Ben’s body was a bed of hot coals.

Ben held back a sigh and sat up gingerly, at the same time cursing himself for how much he wanted to put his arms around Poe and pull him back down to the forest floor, and how much he wanted to gaze into those perfect eyes and kiss those perfect lips.

Poe was getting to his feet, and Ben stood as well, brushing himself off. He turned toward the edge of the forest, where his parents would be waiting for Poe to come back from chasing the ball he had hit into the woods, and for Ben to come back from chasing Poe.

“Ben?”

Ben stopped, feeling heat creeping up his neck toward his face.

“Prince Solo. . . .”

Ben turned back to look at Poe. “What is it?”

“Thank you.” Poe took a step toward him, stopped, smiled. It was a cautious, hesitant smile, but its genuineness made it beautiful. “Thank you for helping me.”

_I’d do anything for you,_ Ben thought. _I’d go to the ends of the earth, I’d slay a hundred dragons and face a thousand demons for your sake, because I love you so._

The prince gave the knight a curt nod and said, “You’re welcome.” He turned away again, and as he tramped through the underbrush, he heard Poe’s footsteps following.

\--

The End


End file.
